We’re going to cast the moral, flesh eating argument aside for the sake of this blog and just focus on the environmental implications of the food choices we make.  A 2006 United Nations report summarized the devastation caused by the meat industry by calling it “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” The report recommended that animal agriculture “be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.”

Many leading environmental organizations, such as the National Audubon Society and the Sierra Club, are now establishing the link between eating meat and eco-disasters like climate change. According to Environmental Defense, if everyone skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off our roads.  Here are a few more facts to mull over:

• There were approximately 6.5 billion people living on earth in 2008 and this number is expected to rise to 9 billion by 2050.  As the world’s population continues to grow, our requirement for food will also increase.
• Worldwide food production requires around 30% of the total soil available, 20% of fossil fuel energy and a major part of the fresh water flow.
• Livestock production generates almost 20 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than the entire transportation sector. If we reduced meat consumption by just 20 percent, it would be as though we all switched from a sedan to a hybrid
• Producing 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of beef emits more carbon dioxide than going for a three-hour drive while leaving all the lights on at home.
• Animal factory farms pollute waterways more than all other industrial sources combined. Raising cattle is one of the most damaging components of agriculture. They cause the most environmental damage of any non-human species through over-grazing, soil erosion, desertification, tropical deforestation for ranches and growing of soya for their feed, in addition to their gaseous emissions and manure products.

I don’t want to get preachy and wag the “meat is murder” finger but all evidence seems to point to that being the case except the murder in reference may be our planet and not just the farm animal.  Adapting eco-vegetarianism one day a week seems an easy start an eco friendly diet.  I’ll leave you with this statement by Dennis Avery, Director of the Centre for Global Food Issues to think about:

“The world must create five billion vegans in the next several decades, or triple its total farm output without using more land.”

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Related Posts

1. Planet Forward Joins Meatless Monday – An Eco-friendly Campaign for Change
2. The Climate Killers Part Three - Senator and CEO Villains
3. Meatless Monday with Vegetarian Paella
4. Meatless Monday with Vegetarian Shepherds Pie
5. The Climate Killers Part Four - The Powerful Unknowns

Tags: agriculture, air pollution, biodiversity, carbon dioxide, Climate Change, deforestation, desertification, eco-vegetarian, environmental, Environmental Defense, environmental problems, Fossil Fuels, greenhouse gases, National Audubon Society, planet forward, Sierra Club, soil erosion, sustainable lifestyle, Sustainable Living, sustainable practices, tropical deforestation, United Nations, vegan, Vegetarian, vegetarianism, water pollution